Disclaimer: Everything from the known Power Rangers universe belongs to Saban. All the other characters unless otherwise noted, including Carri Hillard, belong to me and cannot be used without my permission.
Author's Notes: I have decided to do rewrites on the entire Ranger Scrolls series and post them under the title "Ranger Scrolls" as there was a lot about the originals that I was unhappy with. I copied over the original version of "A New Ranger" on fanfiction net and renamed it. I plan on eventually rewriting most of the series and posting it as one story. As the rewrites come up, the older versions (if the fic was posted here already) will disappear off of this site. The more recent fics in the series won't get as dramatic overhauls but they will get edited and added to the fic.
Essentially what I am doing for the rewrites is keeping the same scenes and the same feel as the original (condensing some and adding some in places) but cleaning it up, making it better. To me some of the early fics needed a little help, and I thought I might as well give it to them. My writing has changed in the last twelve years and I thought I'd reflect that in the first fics I ever wrote. It also gives me an opportunity to correct a few little things in the storyline (for example Kim doesn't write Tommy the letter until after the first four or so original Ranger Scrolls fics, however some of them make it sound like they're together while some don't) and also tie in some of the things that are mentioned in the later stories but never referenced in the first fics (like Ashley and Carri sharing a gym class). I won't be giving dates for the chapters as my main focus is still the brand new fics. However I plan to get several of the rewrites done this summer after Legacy comes to a close.
Just a few storyline notes for those of you reading the Scrolls for the first time. The first dozen or so chapters fall in line with the rangers senior year and most of the happenings in the actual Zeo storyline. Which means that for the most part (with Tanya being the obvious exception) everything that happened in Zeo happens here. Kim does write the letter, Tommy does by the end of the school year date Kat (although this is not a Tommy/Kat story, it does hint throughout that Tommy still cares about Kim and eventually a few months after Kat breaks up with him he does get back with Kim), and so on.
If you've read the original, you'll have to let me know what you think of the new version. If you haven't read the original story, or if you've read Legacy but not Ranger Scrolls, this is where the character of Carri Hillard begins. I hope you all enjoy it.

Ranger Scrolls
"A New Ranger"

Carri Hillard walked into the bedroom of her aunt and uncle's house that would now be hers, dragging everything she owned in several pieces of luggage behind her. It had been a long day and a long flight, and now she was ready to crash in bed. She took a few moments to look around the room and she smiled. "This room looks amazing." She said turning toward her cousin.

Katherine Hillard smiled and nodded her head toward the brunette standing in front of her. "Why thank you." She replied grinning. "You did say you were coming to live with us so I thought I'd give it a few personal touches."

Carri smiled and sighed, collapsing on the bed. "I can't believe I'm starting my senior year at Angel Grove High tomorrow." She said. She had begged and pleaded with her parents to let her go back to California and finally she got her wish. "It sucks for Josh. He had to graduate from Westside County High." She said absentmindedly.

"Oh well." Kat said as she shrugged. Carri's brother wasn't as adamant about going back to California and was probably happy to graduate from school in New York. "We're glad to have you here."

"Yeah and I'm sure you're going to get along with everyone." Tanya Sloan chimed in from the back. "And it helps that you know your way around."

"I know that's right." Carri said with a smile as she turned over and looked at the alarm clock. "I think it's time for me to get some sleep. It's eleven thirty here and I'm still on east coast time. Tomorrow is the first day of our senior year and I want to look my best."

"Alright. Goodnight." Kat said giving her cousin a smile.

"Goodnight." Tanya added.

"Goodnight." Carri replied as she got up and shut the door behind them. She crawled into bed and slowly dozed off, wondering what her first day at Angel Grove High School would be like.


Kat crossed her arms the next morning as she walked up to her cousin's door and pounded against it. "Come on Carri we gotta go." She said with a sigh. It was their first day and already her cousin was going to make them late.

"Alright alright." Carri said grumpily as she rolled out of bed. She was dead tired from the day before but found herself quickly having to perk up. She jumped in the shower for a few minutes then got out and threw on the first clothes she came to. She was disappointed that she didn't have time to properly pick out her wardrobe, but she couldn't worry about that as she tossed her wet hair messily back in a clip before emerging from the room.

Quickly she headed downstairs and out the door so that she could walk to school with Kat and Tanya. "Sorry." She apologized as the duo looked at her then started walking.

"It's ok." Kat said. It was after all her first day and she had spent the entire previous day traveling. "Since we don't have any time before school, I'll introduce you to everyone at lunch." She said quickly changing topics.

Carri shook her head no. "Lunch is bad. I have to go see Mr. Caplan. He wants to see who the new Hillard in school is."

Kat chuckled. "He probably just wants to make sure it's not Josh repeating his senior year for a second time."

Carri couldn't help but laugh at Kat's dig on her brother. He had been a good kid, but in his brief time at Angel Grove High he had managed to agitate Mr. Caplan quite a few times.

"I give." Tanya said looking the two girls over. "Who's this Josh character you keep talking about?"

"My older brother." Carri replied flashing her a smile as Tanya nodded in acknowledgment.

"Anyway how about we met at the Youth Center after school and I'll introduce you there." Kat suggested.

"The Youth Center." Carri said wistfully. "How long has it been since I've been there?"

The question was rhetorical but Kat answered it anyway. "Since the last time Josh and his friends kicked you out." She joked.

Carri laughed. Her brother used to say that he couldn't be seen with his younger sister at the Youth Center. Of course she didn't listen to him. "True." She said with a smile. "I'll definitely be there. I'm dying to meet your friends."

"Sounds good." Kat said as a wave of silence fell over the group.

The girls were deep in their own thoughts as they made their way toward the high school. They approached the building and Kat looked at them and smiled. "Here we are." She announced although the other two girls were quite aware of that already. "I'll see you later?"

Tanya and Carri both had words of agreement as each girl said goodbye and headed toward their first class.


Carri leaned against her hand, her eyes drifting closed as her first period class came to an end. New York or California, some things about school never changed.

Just as her eyes started to shut the bell rang, signaling the end of her first period. She jolted up and threw her stuff in her backpack, heading out into the hallway and toward her next class. She arrived just as the minute bell rang and scooted into the only seat she could find.

As she started to pull out her books she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Yes?" She questioned as she turned around to face the two boys grinning goofily at her.

"I'm Skull and this here is Bulk." Skull introduced themselves quickly. Bulk said hello before Skull continued. "And you are?"

"Carri." She replied flashing the duo a smile. There was something weird about them but it didn't matter, she was just glad that someone had introduced themselves to her.

Skull crossed his arms and studied her for a moment. "You know, you look awfully familiar."

Carri rolled her eyes and turned back to the blank notebook in front of her. "Is that some kind of pick up line?" She asked with a sigh. She was more than used to getting hit on and she had heard them all before.

"No I'm serious." Skull said as he continued thinking. "Wait you're Carri Hillard aren't you?"

She turned back and looked at them curiously. "How did you know that?"

"You were in that movie. Bulkie what was it called?" Skull asked stretching to think of the name of it.

"Revenge." Bulk replied with a smile. It happened to be one of the duo's favorite movies and they'd seen it a thousand times.

"Yeah Revenge." Skull chimed in.

She raised an eyebrow and looked at the both of them. "How did you know that was me? I was only in there long enough to get shot. They didn't even show my face."

"If you pause it at the right spot we can see you. Then all we had to do is look at the credits." Skull said as he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, quite satisfied with himself.

"Can we not talk about that. I hate the movie business. I only did the role because my dad wanted me too." Carri said as she crossed her arms as well.

"Your dad's that producer guy, Jonathan, right?" Skull questioned.

"Yes." She snapped glaring at them. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to put everything about my dad, New York and his production business behind me so I can concentrate on California and everything I've missed out on."

"Sorry. We won't mention it again." Skull promised.

"Thank you." Carri said as she turned back toward the front of the room.


Across the room a certain male couldn't help but notice the woman who had walked in and sat down, and was currently being hassled by Bulk and Skull. "Do you know who she is?" Rocky DeSantos questioned as he turned to look at his friend.

Tommy Oliver took a look over at the girl in question. "Nope." He said chuckling as he watched her conversation. He didn't know what was being said but she had just crossed her arms and was glaring at Bulk and Skull. "I do know she just set the record for fastest newcomer to be aggravated by Bulk and Skull."

"That's not helpful." Rocky said as he watched her. "I've got to go introduce myself."

As he started to stand the final bell went off. "That's going to have to wait." Tommy pointed out.

Rocky sighed as he sat and the class began. He was having trouble concentrating as he couldn't help but continue to stare over at the girl in question.


The morning flew by as Carri was so happy to be back in Angel Grove she wasn't concerned with much else. Her fourth period gym class ended and she walked out with a junior who had hung out with her in class. The girl was the captain of the cheerleading team and had quickly befriended Carri. It was nice, things back home seemed to already be falling into place.

She said goodbye to the girl and broke off looking for Kat. Finally she saw her and the duo met up and headed to English class together. Once again Carri found herself later than everyone else as there was only two seats left when they entered.

"I hate this." Carri grumbled. She was excited to finally get to sit next to someone she knew, but with one seat in the front and one in the back she knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Which one do you want?" Kat asked.

"The back." Carri replied giving her a sly grin. "You're the one who gets along with teachers the best so you can sit up front."

"Thanks." Kat said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

Carri smiled at her as she went and took her seat in the back and Kat headed up front, both waiting for class to begin.


Rocky sat in his English class tapping his pen against his desk as he saw the girl from that morning come in and sit two rows away from him.

"What are you looking at?" Adam Park asked, noticing that his best friend's attention was definitely elsewhere.

"Her." Rocky said as he pointed over to where she was sitting.

Tommy looked up and quickly realized that it was the same girl from history. He smiled to himself, amused by the fact that Rocky had the hots for this girl. He had to admit she was good looking, although he was happily with Kim and nothing was going to change that.

"You going to go talk to her?" Adam asked. He had never known Rocky to back down from anyone before and he doubted he would now.

"During lunch." Rocky replied. All the seniors ate together and he figured that would be the perfect time to talk to her.


As soon as the bell rang Rocky collected his things and headed for the cafeteria. He spent the better part of his lunch search for the girl from class but couldn't find her anywhere. Finally he gave up and headed over to sit with Adam, looking rather depressed.

"Come on let's go." He said with a sigh.

"Struck out didn't you?" Adam joked.

Rocky glared at him. "No." He quickly defended himself. "I couldn't find her anywhere."

Adam shrugged. "Well eventually you'll talk to her."

"Yeah. I suppose you're right." Rocky replied although he wasn't sure he could wait much longer.

"Come on, let's go." Adam said prepared to drag his friend out of the cafeteria to try and get his mind off of his mystery girl.


Carri went through her lunch period and math class, still in the same good mood even though Bulk and Skull had sat next to her in math. As she walked into her seventh period chemistry class she saw Kat. Quickly she headed in and nabbed the seat next to her.

"Hey." she said with a smile, grateful that she finally got to sit next to Kat in a class.

"Hey." Kat greeted flashing her a smile back.

"Front row?" Carri questioned raising an eyebrow.

Kat shrugged. "That was all that was left. I wanted to try to get some near my friends but they were all taken."

"It's ok. I'll meet them soon enough. I just have to make it through chem class." She said with a sigh. Chemistry was not her favorite subject and she wasn't looking forward to it.

"You're going to like chemistry." Kat assured her. "Miss Appleby is really nice."

"You've had her before?" Carri questioned.

Kat nodded. "Pre-calculus last year. She has degrees in three subjects." She explained.

Carri shrugged and replied with an "oh" as she sat back in her seat and waited for class to start.


"Hey isn't that your girl over there talking to Kat?" Tommy asked as he nudged Rocky's shoulder and pointed toward her.

Rocky smiled as he caught a glimpse of her. "Yeah it is."

"She looks like she's friends with Kat. Maybe you can get her to introduce you." Tommy suggested.

"Yeah. I will." Rocky replied, smiling as he sat back in his seat.


The final bell rang and Kat and Carri jumped up. "I'll see you at the Youth Center. I need to go talk to Miss Appleby." Kat said.

"Sounds good." Carri replied as she gathered her things and exited the room.

Before Kat could get a chance to go talk to her teacher Rocky came up behind her. "Hey I have a question for you." He said as he approached.

"Not now Rocky I need to talk to Miss Appleby. It can wait, can't it?" She questioned figuring whatever it was they could discuss it at the Youth Center.

Rocky sighed heavily. "Yeah I guess so." He said as Kat walked off and Tommy and Adam walked over toward him.

"You ready to go to the Youth Center?" Adam asked.

"Yup." Rocky replied and the three boys exited the classroom and made their way toward their daily hangout.


It didn't take Carri long to get to the Youth Center. She could never forget where that place was. She walked into the front door and headed up to the counter, sitting on one of the stools. "Hey Ernie can I get a soda?" She asked.

Ernie spun around not sure who was talking to him. "Do I know you?" He asked taking a good look at her. "Wait... little Carri Hillard?" He asked with a smile.

"Well I've grown up a bit since eighth grade." She joked.

"I can see that." Ernie said with a smile as he grabbed her a soda. "So what brings you here?"

"Well I thought I would do a little history until Kat got here." She replied with a smart-ass answer. Ernie gave her a look and she grinned. "Seriously though my parents let me move in with Kat's family here in town. I'm now a California girl again."

"That's great." Ernie said. He missed seeing the Hillard kids in there everyday. "So I imagine I'll be seeing you around then."

"Absolutely." Carri replied as she grabbed her soda and walked away. She headed over to an open table and pulled out her history book. Looking at the first page she let out a long sigh. It was going to be a long boring read with extra small font and a more than uninteresting introduction.


Rocky, Adam and Tommy made their way into the Youth Center and headed for an open table, two down from the spot Carri settled herself in. It didn't take long for Rocky to notice her sitting there.

"There she is." He said looking at his friends and gesturing toward her.

"Where?" Adam questioned turning to look at her.

Rocky whopped him on the shoulder. "Don't stare." He reprimanded.

Adam frowned as that was exactly what his friend was doing. Tommy smiled at Adam before he spoke. "Go talk to her."

"I don't know." Rocky said letting his voice trail off as he started to get nervous.

"Rocky DeSantos I have never seen you shy away from a girl." Adam said, doing some reprimanding of his own.

"You're right." Rocky said as he stood, suddenly very determined. "I'm going over there."

"Hey guys." Kat and Tanya said in unison as they walked over to the table.

The boys greeted them and Kat spoke again. "Remember how I said my cousin was moving in with me?"

"Yeah." Tommy replied as he looked up at her.

"Well she's here and I'd like for you guys to meet her." Kat continued smiling at all of them.

"Maybe later. I have something I have to do." Rocky said determined not to let the girl take off on him again.

"Can't it wait?" Kat said giving him a rather pathetic look.

Rocky sighed. "Is it going to take long?"

"No." Kat promised.

"Fine." Rocky agreed and Kat's expression changed to a happier one.

The boys stood and Kat gestured for them to follow her over to Carri's table. "Guys I'd like for you to meet my cousin Carri." She said quickly doing an introduction.

"Hi." Rocky said flashing her a huge smile. "I'm Rocky, and this is Adam and Tommy."

"Nice to meet you." Carri replied smiling back at him. She couldn't help but notice that Rocky had nice eyes. She always had a thing for eyes. She tried to shake the thought as she wasn't sure Kat would care for her flirting with her friends. Besides knowing her luck he was taken already.

"She's your cousin?" Rocky whispered to Kat. She shook her head yes as she smiled at Carri.

"You guys can sit down you know." Carri said gesturing to the empty seats at the table.

Rocky was quick to sit down beside her. Kat sat on the other side of her cousin, and Adam, Tanya and Tommy filled in the middle three seats.

Tommy made a face as he noticed the open book on the table. "So you started the history?" He was not looking forward to trying to get through any of that book.

"Yeah." she replied noticing the look on his face. "It's just as sucky as you think it's going to be."

Tommy smiled at her as Rocky looked at the two girls in amazement. "You guys don't even look related."

Carri laughed. "What can I say. She's got two blonde's for parents and my mom's a brunette."

"So your fathers are related?" Tommy questioned, realizing how obvious the answer was after he said it.

"Brothers." Carri replied giving a one word response.

"So how long are you in town for?" Rocky asked continuing to ask her questions.

Carri smiled at him. She didn't mind the questions, she was more than happy to answer them. Especially the ones coming from Rocky. "I'm registered at Angel Grove High so at least through my senior year."

"Then what?" Rocky asked hoping that the answer was she'd stay here and go to school.

Carri shrugged. "Hopefully go to school somewhere in California. Now that I'm back I don't think I ever want to leave."

Rocky looked at her and flashed her a smile. She made eye contact with him and smiled back before Adam spoke. "I like that shirt." He said referencing the MTV Rock N' Jock shirt she was wearing. "Where did you get it?"

"Long story short, my dad got a couple of free tickets to the sixth annual Rock N' Jock game. He flew me and my boyfriend out and we watched the game. Afterwards I went over to the Homeboys side and jumped the fence to meet Dan Cortese."

Tanya raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "What about security?"

"That's exactly what David said. Fortunately they were too busy with Pamela Anderson to know I was there. I introduced myself to Dan, he recognized the name since my dad produced his last show." She said pausing to shrug. "Sometimes it's good to get recognized. Although not many people know the name."

"You're dad's a producer?" Adam interrupted her story. He thought that was awesome. He'd love to work behind the scenes in the movie business one day.

"Yeah it sucks. It's what took me away from Angel Grove." She replied, the sadness showing through in her voice. She shook her head for a moment before continuing. "Anyway I told Dan how much I loved his work and he hooked me up with the shirt. He even autographed it for me." She finished gesturing to the signature on the back near her shoulder.

"That's lucky." Rocky said with a smile. "One day I'd like to get one of those shirts. It will be as a player of course."

Carri grinned at him. "Of course."

"I'll be right there with you." Adam chimed in with his best friend. "I plan on hitting for the Rock N' Jock cycle." He said with a smile.

Tanya looked over at her boyfriend and smiled. "You two have high hopes." She pointed out. Rock N' Jock games were a mix of celebrities and ball players, and very few people got to do it.

"We're just good." Adam said as he leaned back and put his arm around his girlfriend.

"Well I guess one day I'll be jumping the fence to get your autographs." Carri said gesturing to Adam and Rocky.

"No way." Rocky said and she looked at him curiously. "We'd let you in as our VIP."

"Aw but that takes all the fun out of it." She said with a laugh, getting Rocky to laugh as well.

As the duo laughed someone came up behind them and cleared their throat. Carri turned to see Bulk and Skull standing there. "Hey." Carri greeted giving them a smile. Not that she really wanted to see them. They were a bit too much on the weird side for her.

"Hey Carri. Want to join us for a soda?" Skull said with a smile as he gestured from himself to Bulk.

"No thanks. I'm hanging out with my new friends here." Carri replied gesturing to the group at the table.

Skull bent down close to her and whispered in her ear. "You need to come join us. You're new here and we hate to see you hanging out with the school losers."

Carri raised an eyebrow and glanced at Skull trying hard to contain her laughter. "Losers? Wow I find it hard to believe that any cousin of mine hangs out with losers."

"Cousin?" Bulk questioned raising an eyebrow as Skull stood straight up.

"Yeah you know. Carri Hillard. Katherine Hillard. Not a random coincidence." She elaborated flashing them a smile.

Skull crossed his arms and looked around the table. "Well you know the whole losers thing was Bulk's idea. I had nothing to do with it."

"Whatever." Carri replied rolling her eyes and turning back toward her table.

"No seriously..."

"Guys just give it a rest." Rocky said cutting Skull off before he could finish. Although he had to admit, he was amused by the way she handled them and would love to see how it played out. But he didn't want the duo hanging around any more than they already were.

The two boys dropped their heads like little lost puppy dogs as they walked off. A wave of muffled laughter came across the table as the teens looked around at each other.

Rocky paused and glanced down at his watch letting out a sigh. "Well I hate to break up the fun but if I don't leave now I'm going to be late for work."

Carri looked over at him and nodded. "I should probably be going to. I have a lot of stuff to do." She certainly didn't want to spend her time in Angel Grove living out of her suitcases. She was dying to get her stuff unpacked and get started with some sort of normalcy.

"Hey we're going in the same direction. Let me walk you halfway there." Rocky suggested. It was a small miracle that she wanted to leave at the same time he did and he hoped that it would give him some time to talk to her.

"Ok." Carri said as she smiled and nodded. She slammed her history book closed and dropped it into her backpack with a thud before zipping it up. She stood and threw it over her shoulder, saying her goodbyes to the rest of the table as she and Rocky exited the building.

The duo took off in the same direction, walking in silence at the beginning as neither could figure out what to say. Rocky was the first to break the silence as he tried to worm his way to the topic that had been on his mind for a while.

"That's awesome that you got that from Dan." he said gesturing to her shirt. "I bet your boyfriend was happy."

Carri chuckled. "More like surprised. He didn't think I was getting anywhere except jail."

Rocky paused for a moment before he asked the next question. "So I bet he was sad to see you go." He said as he anxiously waited for her answer.

"Yeah. But it doesn't really matter." Carri said as she shrugged her shoulders. "I broke up with him before I left." Which was the most liberating thing she had done in years. She had really grown to loathe that relationship and the only reason she stayed with him was because her mother was so fond of him. Over the last year she realized that he didn't treat her right and that was more than a little unacceptable to her.

"So you guys broke up? That's too bad." Rocky replied trying to convey sympathy that he didn't feel.

Carri let out a little laugh. "Not really. It's something I wanted to do for a long time. It's just that my parents loved him, so I was waiting for the right excuse."

"So you're parents liked him. Big deal." Rocky replied, although he did have to admit that he would want to date someone his mother approved of. "I'm sure you'll find someone else they like."

"I hope so. My mom is quite picky, especially after we moved to New York and dad's income skyrocketed. She thinks that there aren't many boys worthy of me." Carri said with a sigh. They had always been quite well off in California. Her father was still a producer and a director when she was little and that kept them upper class. But when he started his own production company in New York everything changed, including her mother.

Rocky nodded in understanding although truthfully he had no idea how money could effect people. What little money his family had they worked hard to get it and it certainly wasn't enough to make them different. He couldn't imagine how Carri's mom was, but fortunately she seemed pretty down to Earth and certainly didn't come across as a rich stuck up snob.

There was another silence as they walked through Angel Grove park and got close to the Hillard's home. This time it was Carri's turn to break the silence. "So now that you know a little bit about me, how about you tell me some about yourself."

"Well let's see. I was born and..." He joked looking over at Carri who curled her lips into a smile as she rolled her eyes. He smiled back at her before continuing. "Where to start..." He let his voice trail off as he thought for a moment. He had an idea and he turned to her and started to fill her in on his life.


As Rocky and Carri were walking through the park, King Mondo loomed over them watching them working on new ideas for the destruction of the Power Rangers. He turned away from the rangers and toward his servant. "Klank, I want to know who that girl is with the blue ranger."

Klank stood next to him and bowed. "Your highness, that is the cousin of the pink ranger."

Mondo thought about that for a moment. "I have an idea."

"Nothing too destructive I hope." His wife Queen Machina chimed in. Some of his plans were more of a disaster than anything.

"Of course not. We're going to kidnap the rangers new friend. Those pesky brats will give us anything we want if we have her." Mondo said as he worked through his plan in his head.

Prince Sprocket got exited. He loved his fathers plans. "Yeah we can demand all sorts of things from them if we have her."

"Klank! Send in the cogs!" Mondo bellowed.

"Yes your highness." Klank replied and with a quick bow he was off.


"So where exactly is this work that you're rushing off to?" Carri questioned as they continued on through the park.

"The beach." Rocky said with a smile. "I'm a lifeguard."

"That must be fun." Carri replied. That was one of the things she missed most about California, the beaches. She couldn't wait to head out there and lay out in the sun. She'd have to figure out where he was on the beach one day and lay out next to him.

"Absolutely." He replied with a smile.

The duo turned and took a short cut as their walk was coming to an end. As they were making small talk a dozen of Mondo's cogs appeared in their path.

Rocky quickly stepped protectively in front of her. "Get out of here!" He exclaimed.

She was more than happy to oblige as she turned to run. "Easier said than done." She replied upon realizing they were surrounded.

Rocky tensed up as panic settled in his gut. He needed to morph to protect them both, but there was no way he could do it with her standing there. He hoped that the others would be alerted soon and help would arrive.

Surprisingly Carri wasn't too terribly worried. Kat had warned her that this was going to happen. She was more surprised that they waited this long. After all here she was, a normal citizen and the pink rangers cousin living in ground zero. She figured they'd find her the perfect target. She felt somewhat prepared for this and figured if they were going to attack, she might as well stand up to them. "Ok so we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Personally I prefer the easy way, you know where you take off and we forget this ever happened."

Not to her surprise, the Cogs didn't move. Carri shrugged her shoulders and threw her backpack down. "Fine then. We'll do it the hard way." She said as she stood in fighting stance, thinking about how all those karate classes would finally pay off.

Rocky stood there in amazement but didn't have much time to react as the Cogs started running at him. Both he and Carri started the battle. He was surprised as she was ducking attacks and throwing punches like a natural. Between her skills and him watching her back, the cogs didn't stand a chance. Seeing that their mission was failing, the cogs disappeared.

"That was amazing. Where did you learn to fight like that?" Rocky asked after they took off.

She shrugged at him and smiled. "I'm from New York. You can't survive there without some sort of fighting skill." It wasn't completely a lie, but she wasn't ready to dive into the story about all the karate classes she took and why she took them.

"Oh." Rocky responded as she picked up her things and walked off and he chased after her.


Mondo slammed his staff down on the ground in a moment of rage. "I can't believe this! She defeated the cogs like she was one of the rangers!"

"But sire she's not one of them." Klank reminded him. "You should send a monster after her, she'd never be able to defeat one of your monsters."

"Silence! I need time to think." Mondo said as he paused for a moment. "I know. We'll send a monster to capture her. She won't be able to defeat a monster."

"Great idea dad." Sprocket said as he clapped.

"Yes your highness. You come up with some of the best ideas." Klank said as he turned to go figure out what kind of monster they were going to send out.


Rocky and Carri approached the corner where they were going to part ways. They stopped and he looked over at her. He was concerned that if Mondo came after her once he would try again, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He would have to trust she would be safe the rest of the way as he couldn't babysit her.

He sighed and smiled at her before he spoke. "Look about what happened back there,"

"Don't worry about it." Carri spoke quickly, cutting him off. "I'm ok, you're ok, that's all that matters."

"I guess you're right." Rocky replied giving her a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Yup. See you tomorrow." Carri said as she caught his eyes with hers and smiled back.

Rocky watched as she turned and headed in the direction of the house. He kept his eyes on her until she was out of sight then turned and headed for the beach.


The rest of the day went by uneventfully. At ten that night Carri found herself sitting on the couch watching tv, thinking about everything that went on. Her thoughts were interrupted when Tanya opened the door and walked in, fresh from the movies with Adam.

"Hey." Carri said as Tanya walked over to the couch.

"Hey." She replied as she stood behind the couch and leaned on the back of it.

"Did you have a good time?" Carri questioned absentmindedly as she flipped through the channels.

"Yup." Tanya replied as she leaned in close to Carri. "What I want to know is did you?"

Carri glanced back at her like she was crazy. "Did I what?"

"Have a good time. Walking home with Rocky. You know that boy has a huge crush on you." Tanya elaborated.

Carri grinned slyly at her. "I know that. I caught him staring at me in class a few times." She said forgetting to mention that she had only caught him because she had taken a glance or two at him.

"So? What did you guys talk about?" She questioned. She was eager to see if he'd asked her out on a date. Adam didn't think he would just yet but Tanya wasn't so sure.

Carri shrugged. "It wasn't that exciting." She pointed out in case Tanya was looking for juicy gossip. "It was just a get to know you chat. You want to know what he brought up first?"

"David?" Tanya questioned. If he wanted an opportunity with her he'd have to know if she was still with her New York boyfriend.

"Of course." Carri replied with a smile.

"I knew it." Tanya said with a laugh as she turned toward the stairs. "I'm heading to bed. We'll talk more tomorrow."

Carri nodded and said goodnight and turned to see Tanya walking up the stairs. On her way up she passed Kat, who was coming downstairs to have a conversation with her cousin about her first day.

"Hey." Carri greeted as Kat came over and sat on the couch.

Kat flashed her cousin a smile. "Hey." She replied.

Carri clicked off the television and turned toward her. "I have to tell you what happened to me today."

Kat looked at her curiously and when she didn't continue she pushed her to go on. "Which was?"

"Rocky and I were attacked in the park by those cog things. We're both ok, I kicked ass, but wow. That was wild." She said giving her a quick story of the incident.

Kat nodded as it didn't surprise her. "I hate to say I told you so but..." She let her voice trail off. She had been afraid if Carri came in and started hanging around her and her friends that she would be a target for Mondo.

"I know, I know. At least you told me about everything. I would've freaked out if you hadn't." Carri said. She didn't want to hear Kat lecture her about how she thought it would be dangerous in Angel Grove.

"I wouldn't have told you everything if I hadn't already while I was under Rita's spell." Kat quickly pointed out. She didn't care about betraying the ranger's secret but when she was evil, it didn't matter. She had told Carri and tried to take it all back later but her cousin wasn't stupid. Ever since then Kat had kept her updated. She had to admit, it was nice to have someone on the outside to talk to about being a ranger.

"Well I'm thankful for Rita. If it weren't for her you wouldn't be a ranger and I wouldn't know the biggest secret in my best friend's life." Carri said smiling at her.

"True." Kat replied as she stretched and looked over at the clock. "I think it's about time to crawl into bed."

"Yeah." Carri replied as Kat got up off the couch. Carri jumped up as well and she followed her cousin upstairs, both girls off in their own little worlds.


Tanya, Kat and Carri arrived inside the school building the next day just as the minute bell rang. They each hurried off to their class in order to avoid spending first period in lock out.

First period was a breeze, and Carri actually found herself awake and alert and enjoying it. As soon as the bell rang she gathered all her things and tossed them into her bag, hurrying off to second period to try and get a better seat that the one next to Bulk and Skull. Unfortunately second period was on the other side of the building and when she arrived she quickly realized that the class was filling. She saw her seat from the day before and cringed at the thought of going back to it.

Fortunately for her Rocky noticed her come in and already saved her a seat. "Carri!" he called out across the room as he waved at her.

She let out a sigh of relief as she scooted through the class and slipped into the seat that he had been kind enough to save. "Thanks guys." She said thrilled that she didn't have to spend the next fifty minutes getting annoyed by Bulk and Skull.

"Anything for a friend." Rocky replied flashing her a smile.

Tommy laughed and pointed over toward Bulk and Skull, who tried to get her attention when she came in. They seemed disappointed that she chose to sit with Rocky and Tommy. "You wouldn't have rather sat with your fan club?" Tommy asked.

Carri made a face and rolled her eyes as the final bell rang. The teacher wasted no time getting class started. "Alright guys and gals I need you to sit up and pay attention. We have a lot of important stuff to go over today."

Carri sighed and leaned back into her chair. It was going to be a long class.


Several hours later Carri found herself sitting in the locker room after her fourth period gym class chatting with Ashley, who she'd met the previous day. So far they were having fun together in gym as they both had a lot in common. The bell rang and they quickly gathered their things and headed out the door. They said their goodbye's as Ashley headed off toward her next class and Carri went to meet Kat to walk to English.

"So how has your day been?" Kat asked as they headed off toward their next class.

"Not counting the boring factor it's been great." Carri said. She was easily falling back into the life of an Angel Grove student and she loved it. "I sat with some friends of yours second period, they're really nice."

"That's great!" Kat exclaimed smiling over at her cousin. "I'm glad you guys are getting along."

They walked into their English classroom and saw the three ranger boys sitting in a corner. They went over and greeted them as they sat down in their seats.

"So are you guys ready for the wonderful world of English?" Kat questioned with a smile.

"Oh yeah I've been waiting for this moment all day." Carri replied heavy on the sarcasm. The boys laughed just as the bell rang and they all quieted down and turned toward the front.

Their English teacher Mrs. Fleet stood in front of the class and smiled at them. "We are going to start the year with a major unit on William Shakespear. We are going to read three of his plays as well as preform parts of them. I suggest you all get your hands on copies of the plays so you can make notes in them." She said pausing to walk over to the board and write. "Hamlet, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet are the plays we will study." She said as she wrote.

Mrs. Fleet turned back to the class and walked in front of her desk and leaned against it. "Let's start with a bit of history on the man himself."

Mrs. Fleet went on to do a fifty minute lecture on Shakespearian history. They had all heard it in English classes before, but it never hurt to hear it again. Except it was more than a little boring, and as the class thought they couldn't take any more the bell rang.

"So what are everyone's plans for lunch?" Rocky asked as he put his things away.

"Kat and I have to work something for statistics for tomorrow." Adam quickly said backing out of lunch.

"Tommy?" Rocky questioned.

"Busy." He said simply as he looked down in the depths of his backpack.

"In that case, Carri would you like to join me for lunch?" Rocky questioned with a smile as he held his arm out.

"It would be an honor." She replied smiling goofily back at him as she linked her arm in his. The two headed out and toward the lunchroom leaving their friends back in the class.

"You know we could do this at the library later." Kat pointed out. In fact she thought that was the plan, not wasting their lunch period.

"I know. I was just trying to help Rocky out. He has a huge crush on your cousin. Just don't tell him I told you." Adam said with a smile as he zipped his backpack up and threw it on his shoulder. "Come on, Tanya is going to meet us in the library."

With that Kat and Tommy stood up and joined the green ranger as they all headed out of the classroom and toward the library.


Carri and Rocky enjoyed their lunch and afterwards Rocky walked her to class. As they stopped in front of Carri's door she smiled at Rocky. "Thanks. So where's your next class? I don't want you being late on my account."

Rocky pointed to the door diagonally across from her own. "I'll be fine." He said with a smile. "Hey why don't you meet me and Adam out here after class and we can all walk to chem."

"Ok." Carri agreed as they each said goodbye and headed into their classrooms.

Carri walked into calculus class and sat down. It didn't take long for her fan club to come in and claim the empty seats next to her. She sighed and shrunk down in her seat as class began. Fortunately for her it flew by and as the bell rang she threw her stuff together and headed out into the hallway.

Bulk and Skull followed her out and loomed around her until Adam and Rocky appeared. "Hey guys!" She greeted quickly walking over toward them.

"Hey." Rocky said as Adam waved.

The trio started off toward their last class of the day with Bulk and Skull on their heels. Carri glanced back at them as they tried not to be obvious about following them, then she turned back to the boys and smiled. "Looks like my fan club has resorted to stalking."

Rocky laughed and Adam looked at him curiously. The blue ranger quickly pointed toward the duo behind him. Adam turned and caught a glimpse of them before laughing as well. They approached their chem class and Carri and Rocky walked in, saying goodbye to Adam who was off to history.

They sat by Tommy and Kat, and Bulk and Skull were quick to sit behind them. "Surprise, surprise." Carri muttered as she caught a glimpse of them.

"What?" Rocky questioned as he turned and saw the duo. "Oh."

The bell rang and Miss Appleby's class got underway. Chemistry was not an exciting subject but Miss Appleby was a great teacher so class flew by. It wasn't long before the final bell rang and the students were free to go.

"Who's going to the Youth Center?" Tommy questioned although he figured he already knew that answer.

"I'm there." Carri quickly replied.

"Me too." Rocky added.

"Adam and I can show for a minute before we have to get back to statistics." Kat said. She didn't want to get back to the math, it was already driving her crazy. But they had to get done and she wanted to do it sooner rather than later.

"Tanya wanted me to let you guys know that she'd be there." Carri added before she forgot.

"Then let's head over there." Tommy said as they all gathered their things and headed out the door.


The others arrived at the Youth Center shortly after Tanya, who was sitting at a table waiting for them. "Hey guys. What took you so long?" She asked with a smile.

"Well the thought of seeing you slowed us down." Adam teased as he sat down next to her and put and arm around her, giving her a quick kiss.

The others sat down around the table and quickly started a conversation. They went on for a half an hour before someone Carri didn't know appeared out of nowhere and started talking to Tommy.

"Hey Tommy are you ready to do some sparring?" Billy Cranston asked. He had spent some time in the Power Chamber after spending the morning taking accelerated classes at Angel Grove High and part of the afternoon taking community college courses that went toward his high school diploma. "You promised to show me that new move."

"Yeah of course." Tommy said as he looked up. As he did he noticed the blank expression on Carri's face and realized that they must not have been introduced. "Carri this is a good friend of ours, Billy Cranston. And Billy this is Kat's cousin Carri Hillard."

"Pleasure to meet you." Billy said as he extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you too." Carri replied as she shook it.

Kat smiled over at her cousin before glancing up at the clock. "Adam we need to get going. It's been more than the ten minutes we were going to stay." She pointed out. They desperately needed to get that work done, especially since they didn't really do much at lunch.

"You're right." Adam said as he hopped up. Kat followed him up and the duo said goodbye before heading out the door.

Shortly after they took off, Tommy stood and went to get changed in order to help Billy on the mats. The table continued to clear as Tanya stood as well. "I need to go talk to Ernie about something. I'll see you guys later?"

"Yeah, later." Carri said with a smile as she walked off. Once she was gone she turned to Rocky. "We emptied out pretty fast. Since there's nothing else going on here I think I'm going to go home and catch an afternoon game."

"Game? As in baseball game?" Rocky questioned. He really liked her, and if she was into baseball that would just be icing on the cake.

"Yup." She replied.

"Mind if I join you? I'm a huge baseball fan." He told her. Although this time he really wanted to watch baseball more to spend time with a girl than for the game itself.

"No not at all." Carri replied as she stood up and Rocky followed. She pointed her hand toward the door. "Shall we?" She asked with a smile.

The duo headed out the door and toward the Hillard's home. Neither could believe their luck that the other wanted to watch baseball games with them. Rocky turned toward her and smiled before striking up a conversation. "So who's your favorite team?"

"That's easy. The Houston Astros, hands down. What about yours?" She questioned.

"Dodgers fan through and through." He replied. "What about favorite player?" He continued his line of questioning.

"The killer B's. Biggio and Bagwell. They count as one." She told him, watching as he couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Mine's Mike Piazza no contest." He replied.

"He's good." She said nodding her head as if to approve of his favorite player.

Rocky paused for a second thinking of what he was going to say next. He was going to do this, there was no doubt. He just had to figure out how he was going to do it. Finally he decided to just say it. "So, Carri, I was wondering, would you like to go with me to a movie tonight?" He asked, fingers crossed that his nerves didn't show as much as he was afraid they did.

"You asking me out on a date?" She said as she stopped and looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," He paused wondering if yes was the right answer from the look on her face, "yeah I am."

"In that case I'd love to." She replied flashing him a smile. She couldn't believe he was asking her out. Although she supposed he eventually would as she thought he liked her as well. She couldn't wait to tell Kat. She hoped she was cool with her dating one of her friends.

"Is seven ok?" Rocky questioned.

"Seven's great." She told him.

"Alright then seven it is." Rocky said. He walked a little closer to her and smiled at her. She smiled back before playfully giving him a little push. He took a step back when she did and she giggled and continued to walk. He quickly caught up to her and stood near her again as they headed through the park together.

As they were heading through the park goofing around they suddenly found themselves surrounded by Cogs. Carri let out a sigh. "Great. It looks like the welcome wagon's back." She said as she tossed down her backpack.

The duo started fighting off the Cogs together once more. For the second straight time they found themselves winning the battle. That was until the ugliest thing Carri ever laid eyes on seemingly fell from the sky.

"I am the Terminator, and I am here to destroy you." He announced himself as he looked directly at Carri.

"You won't be destroying anything." Rocky said. He was trying to show more confidence than he felt as he couldn't morph and he feared they wouldn't last long if the others didn't arrive soon.

Carri could sense the doubt in his voice. She sighed as she knew Kat was probably going to kill her for saying this, but she wasn't ready to die on her second day at Angel Grove High. "Go ahead and morph."

"But how"

"Just morph. I'll explain later." Carri said quick to cut him off. Now was not the time for details as Terminator was coming at them. Carri was afraid he wasn't going to get the chance to morph and she quickly decided to distract the monster. She ran up to him in an effort to fight him off until she could get a morphed ranger on her side. She quickly realized that it wasn't a good idea as he was a lot stronger than the Cogs.

"It's morphin time!" Rocky yelled from behind her, trying to go quickly so nothing would happen to her. "Zeo ranger three, blue!"

As he finished morphing he watched in horror as Terminator grabbed her by the throat and pulled her into him. "Let her go!" He yelled.

The monster snarled at him. "I don't think so."


Tommy, Billy and Tanya were sitting around the Youth Center when their communicators went off. Quickly they got up and walked off into the corner where they usually took their pages.

"Go ahead Alpha." Tommy said once he was satisfied that they were alone.

"Rocky is under attack in the park. You must join him immediately." Alpha replied.

"We're on our way." Tommy assured the little robot. Billy teleported up to the Power Chamber as Tommy looked over toward Tanya and nodded. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"


Kat and Adam were seated in a remote corner of the library working on their math project. "Are we sure this is how we want it?" Kat asked with a sigh as she looked it over for the thousandth time.

"It will have to do. Because." Adam stopped short as he heard his communicator go off. He and Kat immediately jumped up and walked around until they found a spot that was empty.

"What's going on?" Adam spoke into his communicator.

"You are needed in the park immediately. Mondo has sent a monster down." Alpha filled in the last two rangers on the details.

"Right." Adam said as he and Kat quickly got ready to morph. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"


The rest of the team quickly joined Rocky in the park and they gathered together to face off against the monster. "Alright, time to take you out." Tommy said pointing toward Terminator who still had Carri firmly in his grasp.

"I don't think so." Terminator growled. "I still have your little friend here and she's coming with me."

Rocky continued to stare down the monster while pointing his pistol at him. As soon as he morphed he drew his weapon. He wanted to fire but he was afraid to hurt Carri. The monster had taunted him and was getting ready to leave when the others arrived. Now that he had the others here he was hoping they could get her away from him.

No one noticed as the pink ranger slipped away from the others. Seconds later she found herself behind Terminator. "You're not taking her anywhere. Zeo one, power kick!" She yelled as she kicked the monster with all the force she had.

As Terminator got hit he instinctively let Carri go and she went flying out of his arms. She rolled on the ground and came to a stop as the blue ranger ran toward her. "Are you ok?" Rocky asked.

"I'm fine." She replied as she let him pull her to her feet. She wasted no time running out of the way and hiding.

"You haven't won yet!" Terminator roared, furious that he let the girl go.

The rangers regrouped in front of him. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." Tommy said with a smile. The rangers quickly pulled out their weapons and fired on him, and in seconds he was little metal pieces on the ground.

Carri was about to emerge from hiding when over to the side she saw two strange looking robots. One of them was twirling the little one high in the air. He let the little one go and it flew over to Terminator, attaching itself to him and making him grow high in the air.

"You tiny rangers can't stop me now!" Terminator bellowed from above.

"We'll see about that!" Rocky yelled back at him just as Tommy called for the zords.

"We need Zeo Zord power now!" Tommy cried as the five Zeo zords came barreling towards them. The rangers leaped into their zords and quickly formed the Megazord. The power of the Megazord was too much for Terminator and he was brought down for good.


"Won't we ever be able to defeat those rangers!" King Mondo roared, angered by yet another loss.

"In time dear." His wife tried to comfort him.

"Klank!" Mondo's yell rang through the walls.

"Yes your highness." Klank said as he quickly ran to his side.

"This is all your fault. It was your idea to bring in the monster." He said blaming his help.

"I deeply apologize sire." Klank replied with a bow before scurrying off to avoid any more of Mondo's wrath.


The rangers arrived back on land after the monster disappeared, and Carri hurried over to them to try and keep them from leaving. "Wait!" She said as they turned toward her. "We need to talk. Go ahead and de-morph, or whatever it is you do."

Rocky and Kat were the only two to power down. Kat reluctantly looked over at her teammates. "It's ok guys, she knows."

The others powered down and Tommy looked sternly at her. "You told her?" He said trying to contain his anger.

"It wasn't Kat's fault." Carri quickly jumped in to defend her cousin. "She was under Rita's spell when she told me. It was too late to take it back once she was good so she kept me up to date."

"If it wasn't for Rita's spell I never would have told her." Kat assured the others as she locked eyes with Tommy.

"I guess that's ok." Adam said as he thought out loud. The other rangers turned toward him. "I mean, Rita was a pretty powerful witch."

"Adam's right." Tommy said with a sigh after thinking about it for a moment. "As long as you didn't tell anyone."

"Don't worry you're secret is safe with me." Carri promised. The others looked at her and nodded. She grinned at them before continuing. "Besides if I tried to tell anyone they'd probably just lock me away in the nuthouse."

Carri got a soft chuckle from the ranger team with that comment as the tension surrounded the group disappeared. Carri seemed nice enough and if Kat could trust her with this secret, they all would.

"Well guys we have some work we have to be doing." Kat said gesturing to herself and Adam.

"You're right." Adam agreed as he and Kat said their goodbyes and teleported out.

"Yeah and we probably should get back to the Youth Center before we're missed." Tommy said as Tanya nodded.

"See you later." Carri called out as they teleported off as well.

"Since that's all said and done, I do believe we have a Dodgers-Astro's game to attend to." Rocky reminded her.

Carri smiled and picked up her bag off the ground. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get to it." She said as she started to walk off.

Rocky grabbed his backpack off the ground and ran to catch up to her, and the duo enjoyed a nice peaceful walk back to the Hillard household.


"Five bucks say the Dodgers win." Rocky said smugly as he and Carri sat down on the couch and she turned on the television.

She grinned slyly at him. "You're on." She replied figuring it would be nice to win a little bit of money.

Quickly she flipped over to ESPN in order to catch the broadcast. Thanks to the run in with the Terminator they missed the first inning, but it didn't appear as though they missed much. "Ha Darryl blanked LA in the first." Carri said with enthusiasm.

Rocky made a face. "Big deal. The game just started." He reminded her. They started to listen to the television announcer as they watched the bottom of the first inning. As they watched Rocky put his arm behind Carri on the couch, debating on whether or not he wanted to wrap it around his shoulder.

He thought about it as they focused in on the action, which quickly escalated in Carri's favor. "Zero - two pitch to Bagwell. Bases loaded, no outs. Nomo's in a lot of trouble." The announcer said as Carri scooted toward the edge of her seat. "Let's see if he gets the green light. He does and he swings... line drive center field. Back to the wall goes DeShields and it sails over his head. Grand slam Jeff Bagwell."

Carri jumped up and pumped her fist in the air. "Yes!" She exclaimed collapsing down to the couch.

"That's just great." Rocky pouted but the moment wasn't a total loss. Carri fell back down onto the couch while his arm draped onto her shoulder and she moved closer to him as they continued to watch the game.


At the end of the game, Carri found herself once again on the edge of the couch listening to the announcer. "Top of the ninth, two outs. Billy Wagner is one pitch away from striking out the side and winning the game."

"Come on Billy you can do it." Carri said as she absentmindedly went to grab on to the edges of the couch. One hand ended up squeezing the couch pillow while the other squeezed Rocky's knee. However she wasn't paying it much attention as they were both zoned in on the game.

At that moment Adam and Tanya headed in the front door. The yellow ranger glanced over at the pair on the couch and turned toward her boyfriend, eyebrow raised. "Don't they look happy?" she smiled as she only spoke loud enough for Adam to hear.

"Eric all you have to do is get on base and let Mike hit you home." Rocky pleaded with the television as he scooted forward as well.

The announcer spoke again as Wagner was ready on the mound. "Fastball on the way. Karros swings and misses." He said pausing for a moment. "And that will do it from the Astrodome with Houston winning eight to seven."

"Man that was a close one." Rocky said as he collapsed back into the couch.

Carri flashed him a giddy smile. "Whatever." She replied holding out her hand in order to collect her winnings.

Reluctantly Rocky pulled a five dollar bill out of his pocket and put it into her hand. She snatched it up quickly and shoved it into her back pocket, turning to him as he looked down at his watch. "It's seven already? We had better get going or we're going to be late." He said as he jumped up and motioned for Carri to follow. She stood as well and the duo started to make their way to the door.

"Where are you guys headed?" Tanya asked curiously before they had a chance to take off.

"To the movies." Carri replied pausing briefly and turning toward Tanya. "Hey you guys have been a lot lately. Do you have anything you'd recommend?"

Adam thought about it for a moment. "We saw Romeo and Juliet yesterday. That was alright." It had been better than the chic flick Tanya had dragged him to the last time they went to the movies.

"Yeah and Leonardo DiCaprio looked hot in it too." Tanya added with a laugh.

Carri giggled and looked over at Rocky who raised an eyebrow. "Well? What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me." She replied.

"Then Romeo and Juliet it is." He replied with a smile as they walked toward the door. He got half way out when he suddenly stopped. "Oh man." He said feeling as though he was ready to kick himself.

"What?" Carri questioned looking at him curiously.

"We were watching the game and I forgot to go home to get my car. We'll never make it on time." He couldn't believe he'd forgotten about his car. He was looking forward to this movie date but there was no way it could happen.

Adam reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, tossing them over to his best friend. "Here. Take my car." He suggested. He knew this meant a lot to Rocky and he didn't need the car so he figured why not.

"Are you sure?" Rocky questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Positive." Adam assured him. "It's no big deal. Besides, I'll probably still be here when you get back."

"Thanks man I owe you one." Rocky said as he and Carri headed out.

Adam and Tanya smiled at each other as they made their way over toward the seats on the couch that their two friends just vacated. Turning on the television they curled up next to each other and started clicking through the channels.


Tanya and Adam were still sitting on the couch and had been joined by Kat and Tommy by the time Carri and Rocky got home that evening. They heard the footsteps before the door swung open and Carri walked through.

"I had a lot of fun tonight. We'll have to do it again sometime." Carri said as she smiled over at Rocky who was entering the house behind her.

"Absolutely." He agreed as he shut the door behind himself.

Carri glanced over and saw the rest of the Zeo rangers watching television. "Hey guys."

They all said hello in reply as they were engrossed with the program they were watching. Adam barely noticed as Rocky tossed him his keys before putting an arm around Carri. "Thanks again for loaning me your car."

"Don't worry about it." Adam said brushing him off so he could see the end of the show. A few seconds later "To Be Continued" flashed across the screen and he put his hands up.

"I can't wait until next week to see the end." Tommy complained not wanting to be patient.

Kat smiled at him. "I guess that's everyone's cue to leave."

"Do we have to?" Adam asked jokingly as he cuddled up next to Tanya.

"Yes." Tanya replied as she leaned over and gave her boyfriend a kiss.

Adam stood and looked over at Rocky. "You need me to give you a ride?" He questioned.

"That would be great." Rocky replied.

"I guess we'll go." Adam said sneaking in another kiss with his girlfriend. As he did Tommy stood, and both boys headed out the front door.

Rocky lingered behind for a moment, leaning in to give Carri a quick kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Definitely." She replied as she watched him leave.

Rocky closed the door as he left, leaving the three females alone in the house together. Kat quickly turned off the television and glanced over at her cousin. "Come, sit." She said with a smile, pointing at Carri and gesturing to the spot on the couch between herself and Tanya.

Carri scooted in between the two girls as Kat smiled sweetly at her. "Ok spill. We want details."

"Details? There aren't any details." Carri said brushing her off and staring forward at a blank television.

Tanya laughed. "Please we saw you kiss him over there. There are details."

"Fine. We went to the movies. We had a good time." Carri replied. They actually had a really good time as he had put his arm around her for most of the film and she leaned in close to him enjoying his company. But she wasn't going to give them that satisfaction just yet.

"And? What do you think about Rocky?" Tanya questioned. She was dying to know if there was a future for the duo.

"Rocky?" Carri repeated. "He's great. I like him. I think we're going to go out again."

"Good I'm glad." Kat said smiling at her cousin. Before Carri came down she wouldn't have imagined her with Rocky. But she shouldn't have been surprised, they had a lot of things in common. And they made a cute couple. It was great that she had found someone there. Kat wished she could find someone. Well she had someone in mind. But he, at the moment, was taken. She let out a long sigh without realizing it.

"Something wrong?" Carri asked surprised by her cousin's sigh.

"What? No of course not. You and Rocky seem like you'll be good together. I'm happy for you." Kat replied flashing her cousin a smile.

"But?" Carri asked. If anyone knew Kat it was her, and she could always tell when she had something else on her mind.

"Nothing. I mean, well I was just thinking. I'm happy you're dating, I truly am, I just wish the guy I liked was available." Kat replied. She hated when Tommy crept into her thoughts. She really liked him, but he had a girlfriend on the other side of the country. A girl who was also her friend, and she wouldn't betray that friendship to go after Tommy.

"Oh." Carri said simply as she and Tanya both frowned toward Kat. Both knew what was going on. Kat was into Tommy but he had a girlfriend that neither girl knew who lived in Florida. "Well things change." She said trying to lift up her cousin's spirits.

"I suppose." Kat said although she wasn't going to get her hopes up.

Carri glanced over at the clock. "Well I think it's about time to get to bed. We still have school tomorrow." She said as she stood.

"Yeah the quicker you go to sleep the quicker you get to see Rocky." Tanya teased as she and Kat stood as well.

Carri playfully rolled her eyes as the three girls headed up the stairs and turned in for the night.


Carri sat in her chem class the next day doodling on the sides of her notebook. She had met new friends in California and she was finally starting to be happy after pushing through the last three years of her life. However now that all of the excitement of being there had worn off, school had gone back to being its boring old self.

The final bell rang snapping Carri out of her thoughts as she and the rangers quickly stood. "So is everyone heading over to the Youth Center?" Tommy questioned as he grabbed the rest of his things. His friends gave him a goofy look. "Yeah I know, stupid question." He replied with a smile.

"What are we waiting for?" Adam asked as he grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Let's head over there."

The rest of the group gathered their belongs and they quickly head out the door and toward the Youth Center.


It didn't take long to get to the Youth Center. Carri was the first one in the door and she immediately spotted Tanya sitting at one of the tables. "Hey!" She called out waving to her.

Tanya smiled and waved back as Carri walked over and took a seat at the table. Adam was the next to sit, taking the seat next to his girlfriend and giving her a kiss.

The others came in and situated themselves around the table, with Rocky making sure to sit down next to Carri. As he sat he put his arm around her and she scooted close to him, leaning in on his shoulder. She stayed that way for a few seconds before moving away from him and standing. "I'm going to go grab something to munch on. Anyone want anything?"

"Grab me a soda." Rocky asked flashing her a smile.

"One for me too." Kat chimed in.

Tommy nodded. "Same here." He added.

Carri glanced over at Adam and Tanya. "You guys want anything?"

"We're fine." Adam answered as Tanya nodded in agreement.

"Ok. I'll be back." Carri said as she walked over to the counter, leaving the rangers to talk amongst themselves.

There was silence for a moment before Tommy turned to Rocky. "So are you still wanting to do that Saturday morning youth karate class with me?" They had discussed it before and were thinking about starting it at the end of the month. They hadn't officially decided but he thought they could start passing the word around if it was set in stone.

"Yeah I say we go for it." Rocky replied. He loved teaching karate and he especially enjoyed helping out the younger kids in Angel Grove.

"Do you guys enjoy it?" Kat said rather randomly as all eyes turned toward her. "Working with kids I mean."

"Of course. They're fun and eager to learn." Tommy told her. This wouldn't be the first youth karate class he'd instructed.

Kat thought for a moment before continuing. "I wanted to start up a youth dance class. What do you guys think?"

"Kat that would be great. You'd be a fantastic dance teacher." Tanya said smiling at her friend.

"I'm sure all the kids would love to be a part of your dance class." Tommy added.

"Then it's settled." Kat replied. She'd been thinking about it for a long time but to hear her friend's words of encouragement was enough to make her want to do it. "I'll have to make fliers and that sort of thing. You guys should come help Saturday night, it would be fun."

"Ok." Tommy replied and some of the others nodded. He had enough experience putting together youth classes that he would love to lend a hand to Kat.

Carri wondered back over to the table with a tray carrying four soda's and a basket of chili cheese fries. Rocky grabbed his soda and eyed her snack. "Chili cheese fries? I know you want to share." He said with a smile.

"Go ahead, have some. All of you. I doubt I can finish them all anyway." Carri replied. Adam and Rocky took that as dig in so they wasted no time. "Sheesh I didn't mean eat all of them." She joked taking a sip of her soda. "So did I miss anything while I was gone."

"I'm going to teach a youth dance class." Kat told her, watching as her cousin snuck a fry for herself.

Carri chewed it and swallowed before replying. "Kat that's great. I'm sure the kids will be able to learn a lot from you."

"I have some news." Tanya spoke up as all eyes turned toward her. "I wanted you to all be here when I told it."

Adam raised an eyebrow and looked at her curiously. "What is it?"

"Ernie's doing his after hours club tonight. He's expecting a good crowd and he wanted me to sing." Tanya explained. Every once in a while Ernie did a nighttime club for teenagers. It was usually fairly successful, and he was even able to get local teens to preform. This time he wanted her up there singing.

"Tanya that's great!" Kat exclaimed. "I can't think of anyone in Angel Grove with a better voice than you."

"I don't know about your singing, but Kat has an ear for talent and if she thinks your amazing then you must be." Carri said smiling over at Tanya.

"I'm sure the place will be packed once people hear that Tanya Sloan is singing tonight." Rocky told her. He'd heard her before and she was good, and performing at Ernie's he knew there would be a lot of people there to hear her.

Tommy smiled over at her. "One day I'll be able to say I knew you when."

"Don't think I'd ever forget about any of you if I were to make it in the music business." Tanya assured him smiling back. Truthfully she never thought she'd be able to become famous for her talent, that was just a dream. She just enjoyed being able to share something she was passionate about with others, even if it was on a small scale.

"We'll all be here to support you." Adam said putting a hand on top of his girlfriend's.

"Thanks you guys. Your support means a lot." Tanya said making eye contact with Adam and smiling at him.

There was a moment of silence at the table before Adam glanced over at his best friend. "You wanna go spar?"

Rocky shrugged. "Sure why not." He replied as he and Adam stood to go get changed.

As they walked away from the table Carri went to finish off her fries. "Next time I go to say help yourself, stop me." She joked getting a small round of laughter from the table.

"You want to go watch them spar?" Tanya asked glancing in Carri's direction.

Carri grinned at her. "Sure I'd love to watch Rocky kick Adam's butt."

"In his dreams." Tanya replied. "Adam could beat Rocky one handed." She added as she and Carri stood and went over to the mats.

"We shall see." Carri replied with a grin as they made themselves comfortable to watch the boys spar.


The six teenagers arrived back in the Youth Center later that night, shortly before the time Tanya was scheduled to sing. They all sat around a table while they waited. As they got situated, Carri leaned over to Tanya and grinned as she whispered, "The last time we were here Rocky was busy kicking Adam's butt."

"Lucky shot." Tanya whispered back as Ernie motioned for her to come up onto the small stage. She stood up and headed to the microphone while her friends turned all eyes toward her.

"This is going to be good." Adam promised as Ernie did a quick introduction before turning the stage over to Tanya.

The concert lasted about an hour and it was absolutely amazing. When it was over Tanya got a standing ovation from everyone in the crowd. With a huge grin on her face Tanya jumped off of the stage and ran to her friends who were standing and waiting for her.

"That was amazing." Adam said as he threw his arms around her and gave her a kiss.

"Thanks." Tanya replied as she sat down at the table with her friends. Tons of people came over and started congratulating her, some of them she recognized from school and some she had no clue who they were including the two men in black suits who quickly approached her.

"Hello." One of them said flashing her a quick smile.

"Hi." Tanya replied looking up at them curiously.

"My name is Shawn Davis and I represent MCA records." He said as he pulled a card out of his pocket and handed it to her. "We are here tonight to make you and offer that will make anything you've ever seen before look bad."

"I don't know." Tanya said hesitant to hear what they had to say.

Shawn gestured to the back area where Ernie's office was. "Step into my office and we can go over the details."

Tanya glanced over at Adam for a moment who nodded to encourage her. After all it couldn't hurt to hear what they had to say. "Ok." She agreed as she stood and followed them.

As they disappeared Ernie approached the table. "I see Tanya met my friends."

"You set her up?" Adam questioned as Ernie nodded. "Good job." He knew his girlfriend had talent and he would love to see her be able to put it to good use.

A few minutes later Tanya came back up to the table. "Guys this is going to be a while." She said flashing them an apologetic smile.

Everyone nodded and said their goodbyes as they slowly made their way back home. Tanya returned late enough that Kat and Carri were already asleep by the time she got there. She made her way up to her room and crawled into bed. Telling everyone what happened would have to wait until the next day.


The group of teenagers found themselves not having any time the following day to sit down and have an extensive conversation with Tanya about her previous night. Carri was the only one who had any time to speak with her before they met that afternoon at the Youth Center. But when the craziness of the school day settled down, Kat, Carri, Rocky, Tommy, Adam and Billy met Tanya at a round table in the Youth Center.

"So? Did you sign a contract?" Carri immediately asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Nope." Tanya replied shaking her head.

Adam frowned as he looked at his girlfriend. "Did they offer you anything?" He was hoping that they didn't get her hopes up only to crush her in the end.

"Yeah I have the contract right here." Tanya told him as she pulled it out of her backpack. "I just haven't decided if I want to sign it or not."

"Can we see it?" Kat asked, watching as her friend nodded and tossed it on the table.

Carri was the first to pick it up and glance over it. It was very extensive and quite a lucrative deal. "Check this out. And I'm just covering the fine points." She spoke gaining the table's attention. "She gets a million dollars if she puts out a record that is a success. You know, top twenty, good air time. If that record were to stay in the top five for three consecutive weeks she'd get a bonus five million. On top of the million for the successful record, she'd get a five album, six point five million dollar deal."

"Why haven't you signed yet?" Adam questioned surprised by her offer. This was her dream, she should jump on it.

"Here's the catch." Carri continued figuring the rest of the contract would be Adam's answer. "She'd have to relocated to New York to work in their studios. They'd pay for everything of course and make sure she got enrolled in school up there. The only condition of the contract is that within the next few years she has to create a record that they will release when they deem ready. There's a lot of other stuff but those are the big points."

There were murmurs around the table as everyone was surprised by the contract she had gotten offered. "You're going to sign that right?" Adam asked, the first of the group to speak aloud. He didn't want his girlfriend to leave but she couldn't pass this up.

"I don't know." She replied hesitantly.

"Tanya this is amazing." Rocky told her not knowing what else to say. He didn't know what the hold up was, he'd sign it.

Kat nodded in agreement with Rocky. "This is the break everyone looks for."

"Yeah you should go for it." Tommy encouraged.

"I don't know. This is great and all but I have a lot of obligations in Angel Grove I don't think I could leave." Tanya told them the sadness showing through in her voice. Sure she wanted to do it, but she didn't think it was feasible.

Carri's eyes widened and she looked at her. "You mean you can seriously say you have something in Angel Grove bigger than this?"

Tanya nodded her head in response as her boyfriend took her hand and lowered his voice to a whisper. "If you mean the rangers I think you should talk to Zordon before you make any decisions."

"We love you like family but we don't want you to give up your dream for us." Tommy added. He'd hate to see her give this all up for the Power Rangers. Sure they were important, but they'd replaced rangers before for opportunities such as this and they'd do it again. Zordon encouraged his rangers to pursue their dreams.

"I don't know." Tanya replied softly.

"Just talk to Zordon." Kat encouraged. She wanted her to talk to their mentor before she made any rash decisions.

"Ok." Tanya finally agreed. She gave Adam a kiss on the cheek and walked out of the view of the patrons in the Youth Center before hitting a button on her communicator and teleporting off.

When the yellow light faded from around her she found herself standing in the Power Chamber. "Zordon there's something I need to talk to you about." She said as she stepped in front of his tube.

"What is wrong Tanya?" Zordon asked.

Tanya took a deep breath and proceeded to fill him in on everything that was going on. She told him about her concert and the record executives, the contract they offered her, finishing with her reasons for not wanting to go. When she was done she looked up at him hoping that he had some answers for her.

"You are a valuable member of this team. You have brought us a lot and it would be difficult to replace you." Zordon started to speak. "However I would not ask you to continue with the team if it meant giving up your dreams as they are important. I cannot tell you want to do, the decision is yours. I will respect whatever conclusion you arrive at."

Tanya nodded her head as she leaned against one of the console's. She made a mental list, weighing all the pros and cons of signing this and taking off for New York. In the end Zordon was right. She may never get this opportunity again.

"Alpha call the others. I have something I need to tell them."


The remainder of the team was sitting with Billy and Carri in the Youth Center when their communicators started going off. Rocky smiled at Carri as they stood. "We'll be right back." He said as he followed the others to a secure location

"What is it Alpha?" Tommy questioned once they were all out of sight.

"You need to teleport to the Power Chamber immediately." Alpha told him.

The little robot didn't sound anxious and Tommy wasn't sure what was going on as he looked over at the other rangers and nodded before teleporting out. "What's going on? Is it Mondo?" He asked as soon as they arrived.

"Tanya has come to a decision." Alpha said gesturing to the yellow ranger.

Adam walked over and took his girlfriend's hand. "Whatever you've decided we support you."

"Thank you." She replied giving his hand a squeeze. "I've decided... I've decided I can't pass this up. I'm going to sign the contract and go to New York."

"Tanya that's great." Adam said as he put his arms around her and gave her a kiss.

"Congratulations." Kat was the first to speak as the others chimed in with similar remarks.

Rocky made a goofy face as he looked over at her. "Now I need to get your autograph so I can say I knew you when."

"I told you I'm not going to forget about any of you." Tanya said with a smile as she turned toward Adam. "Especially you."

"When will you be leaving?" Billy asked. It was sad to see her go but he was excited that she was getting this opportunity.

"Tomorrow." Tanya replied with a hint of sadness. "That means we don't have long to find my replacement."

"I have an idea." Kat replied. All eyes turned toward her and the others nodded as they knew what she was thinking.


Carri sat at the table playing with the straw in her soda as Rocky walked back over to her. "Hey that was fast. Where's everybody else?"

"They had something they had to do with Billy." Rocky replied quickly flashing her a smile. The smile faded and he continued. "Carri do you trust me?"

"Of course I do. Why do you ask?" She questioned raising an eyebrow.

Rocky held his hand out to her. "Come with me." He said.

Completely confused by the situation, Carri took his hand and allowed him to pull her out of her seat. He lead her out of the building and down a nearby alleyway, gripping her tightly before hitting a button sending them both off.

Once Carri's vision cleared and the funny feeling of whatever happened to her wore off, it didn't take long for her to realize she wasn't near the Youth Center any more. She was standing in a highly technologically advanced room with her friends, a little robot, and a giant head floating in a tube.

"Here we are." Rocky said smiling at her.

"And were, exactly, is here?" She replied making a face at him.

"Here is the Power Chamber, home of the Power Rangers." Rocky replied.

Kat took her cousin by the hand and pointed to the little robot. "This is Alpha." She said as he lifted a hand and waved at her. "He's the assistant to our mentor, Zordon." She finished pointing to the head in the tube.

"Hello." Carri said awkwardly.

"Welcome." Zordon replied. "You have been brought here because Tanya has something to tell you."

Carri turned to Tanya who was already making her way over to her. "I've decided to accept the record deal."

"Tanya that's great!" She exclaimed giving her a hug.

"Which means I can't be a Power Ranger anymore." Tanya continued after returning Carri's hug. "Which is why we brought you here. I want you to take my place."

"Me?" Carri squeaked unsure if she understood her correctly.

Tanya nodded. "You're going to be the next yellow ranger."

"But why me?" Carri said still confused at the situation.

"I know what happened out there in the park. Both times. You've already proven yourself worthy of being a ranger." Tanya explained. "I have no doubt that you have the heart and the skills to be on this team."

"Wow I don't know what to say." Carri replied rather stunned by it all.

"Say you'll do it." Tanya replied.

"Yes... yes of course." Carri said with a smile.

"Since Tanya is leaving tomorrow it would be best if the power transfer took place now." Zordon informed them as he looked over his rangers. He noticed that Carri was looking at him in amazement as he continued. "First as a ranger there are a few things you must adhere to. You may not reveal your identity as a power ranger. You cannot use the powers to serve your own purposes. They are only to be used in defense when you are attacked by Mondo's forces."

"I understand." Carri replied nodding as she agreed to his terms.

Tanya called for her piece of the zeo crystal. As it appeared in her hands she smiled over at Carri, lifting it high in the air. Trying to ignore her nervous jitters Carri reached out and grabbed the crystal. Suddenly a bright light filled the room as the power removed itself from Tanya and started coursing itself through Carri's veins. When the light finally dimmed down the crystal was gone and Carri stood fully morphed as the Yellow Zeo Ranger.

"This is awesome." Carri said as she powered down and grinned at the others.

Tanya unhooked the communicator from her wrist and handed it over to Carri. "This is yours too now. It's how we communicate with each other and teleport around."

"Thank you." Carri replied clasping it onto her own wrist. It wasn't the best looking accessory she'd ever worn, but it meant she was a power ranger and that was well worth it.

The buzz continued around the rangers as everyone was talking to Tanya and Carri. As they were contemplating returning to the surface the alarms went off causing Carri to jump.

"What was that?" She asked as Alpha let out an "Aye ai ai!"

Billy smiled at her as he and Alpha took a quick glance at the disturbance. "Looks like you've got Cogs and one ugly monster."

"We're on it." Tommy replied as he glanced down at the newest member of the team. He made eye contact with her and she nodded, and he hoped she was ready to go. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

With that Tanya found herself standing in the Power Chamber watching the action as the others went to take on Mondo's forces.


The rangers returned twenty minutes later victorious, and they all powered down. "You know a girl could get used to this gig." Carri said with a smile.

"Well we hope you'll be part of it for a while." Rocky replied smiling back at her.

"I intend on being." She assured him.

Adam looked around and noticed his girlfriend missing. "Where did Tanya go?"

"She returned home to start gathering her belongings." Billy informed him.

Adam nodded. "I think I should go talk to her." He said absentmindedly before teleporting out.

Rocky glanced down at his watch as his best friend teleported out. "Hey you guys want to head over to my house? In ten minutes the third game of the series starts. I'm putting ten on LA."

Carri snorted. "Well you know where my money is going."

"I'm putting my money toward the Dodgers." Tommy jumped in.

"Me too." Kat replied as her cousin shot her a look. "Sorry." She said sympathetically as she shrugged.

"Billy, you coming?" Rocky asked as a few seconds went by without the former blue ranger putting in a bet of his own.

Billy thought for a moment. "Yes. I think I am going with the Dodgers as well. Statistically they will be victorious."

"Whatever." Carri said as they all teleported to Rocky's house.


Three hours later Carri stood with a fist full of money. "Forty dollars. Never underestimate the power of the Killer B's."

"Whatever. Biggio and Bagwell got lucky." Rocky defended his team. "Back to back off Worell? How many times can you say that."

"Luck had nothing to do with it." Carri replied cheerfully.

"Well they were only down by one. A comeback was possible." Kat pointed out, not too terribly disappointed that she had lost to Carri.

"Whose side are you on anyway?" Tommy teased.

Carri grinned at the red ranger. "Mine."

"I suppose this is the part of the night where we all go home and think twice about betting against the Astros." Rocky spoke as Carri had a smug look on her face. "But then we all remember that there's no way the Astros can sweep the Dodgers." They had won the first three of the unusually long four game series and Rocky was confident they wouldn't loose the last one.

"Whatever." Carri said rolling her eyes. "I mean if that's the way you're going to be I have no problem taking your money."

Rocky raised an eyebrow. "In that case. My house. Seven tomorrow. Anybody who wants to win their money back is welcome to come."

"I'll be there. To win your money." Carri said never able to turn down any sort of competition.

"I should make it." Tommy said and Kat nodded in agreement.

"I need to head back to the Power Chamber and retrieve some of my belongings before I return home. I will see you all tomorrow?" Billy questioned. They all nodded in agreement and he quickly teleported himself off.

As Billy left, Rocky stood up and grabbed his car keys. "You guys want me to give you a ride home?" He questioned knowing full well the answer would be yes. Since they teleported there no one had a car and Zordon frowned upon using the teleportation system to jump around on personal matters.

Carri made a face. "What if I don't want to ride with you?"

"You don't have much of a choice." Rocky pointed out as he walked over and pulled her up off the couch, gently grabbing her arm and leading her to the door. Tommy and Kat looked at each other and smiled before jumping up and following the others.

Unlocking the doors, Rocky quickly jumped in the front seat with Carri sitting next to him and Kat and Tommy in the back. Carri pulled her seatbelt over and made a face as she clicked it into place. "You see how I got dragged out here by my abusive boyfriend." She joked. Although Rocky was quite gentle with her and he was just playing, unlike some of the times David had dragged her somewhere. He was never abusive, but over the past few years she'd had quite a few bruises from where he'd grabbed her and pulled too hard.

With a sigh she glanced up in the rearview mirror with enough time to see Tommy roll her eyes. "What makes you think I didn't see that Mr Oliver?" She questioned, memories of New York slipping away as she was pulled back into the present.

"See what?" Tommy questioned, throwing his arms up as Rocky started the car and backed out of the driveway.

"I see how it's gonna be." Carri replied crossing her arms over her chest before turning to glare back at Tommy. The look was meant to be cold but the smile forming at the corners of her mouth gave it away.

Rocky laughed. "I think I'm going to drop you off first so I don't have to deal with you anymore." He said as he headed in the direction of the Hillard's. Truthfully they lived closer than Tommy which is why he was going there first, but he thought it would be fun to pick all the same.

"Now you've gone and hurt my feelings." Carri said, arms still firmly crossed as she let out a fake sniffle.

"Aw I'm sorry." Rocky replied, taking a hand off the wheel as he half hugged her. "Better?"

"Much." She said nodding at him and grinning. There was a moment of silence before Carri spoke up switching topics. "So how's life?"

"With Mondo around it's exciting as it can be." Tommy answered, the ranger related aspect of his life being the first thought to come to mind.

"No kidding." Kat chimed in, nodding her head in agreement.

"I don't mind. It will keep me on my toes." Carri said, still on high from her first adventure as a ranger. This was going to be the most awesome thing ever.

"Be careful what you wish for." Tommy warned. He remembered the feeling that he could take on the world when he first got his powers. He also remembered the first time he realized that although some of the battles were easily won the bad guys were a formidable force, one that could do some serious damage.

Rocky pulled into the Hillard's driveway as Carri was busy contemplating Tommy's words. "This is your stop."

"Thanks for the ride home." Carri said snapping out of her own world.

"Anytime." Rocky replied leaning over to give her a kiss. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She said opening the car door. She turned and waved a quick goodbye to Tommy as Kat said her goodbyes as well, then the two girls headed for the house.

Tommy climbed out of the back seat and jumped up front with Rocky. They watched as Kat and Carri headed into the house. Once they were safely inside Rocky put the car in reverse and headed off toward Tommy's.

"You really like her don't you?" Tommy asked as they took off. He had seen Rocky go on dates with girls before but he had never seen him act this interested in one.

"Who Carri?" he questioned, turning as Tommy nodded his head yes. "Well we've only gone out on one real date. But we've hung out some. And she's nice and really good looking and she's easy to talk to and quite open about what's on her mind." He paused and thought for a moment. Truthfully she was unlike any other girl he'd ever dated and that only made him that much more interested to find out more about her.

Tommy chuckled. "So I've noticed. She says what she's thinking and doesn't care that she doesn't know us that well. Or know me that well anyway."

Rocky shrugged. "We've had time to talk. She's just so... I donno." He finished at a loss to come up with the right word.

Tommy smiled over at his friend. He did really like her, he could tell. Where it would go he wasn't sure. He hoped Carri wasn't the romantic type. After all Rocky was the one who thought that all the "mushy gushy romantic stuff" he did for Kim was silly. But then again, who knew what would happen with them.

He leaned back in the car seat and turned the radio up as Rocky drove, both boys enjoying the music as they headed toward the Oliver household.


The next day they all went to school as usual. Carri quickly found herself settling into a regular, boring, school routine. The excitement of being back in California was slowly wearing off. She still had new friends to get to know and a new boyfriend to hang out with. And of course there was the ranger thing that was quite exciting. But even that wasn't enough to keep the boredom of school from settling back in.

Eventually the boring school day ended. As usual the teens planned on meeting up with each other at the Youth Center, with the exception of Tanya. She had spent the day in school saying goodbye to everyone, then rushed home to finish packing for her flight which was scheduled to leave at six thirty that night. It was more than ok with the rangers that she wasn't there, they were working on setting up a surprise going away party for her.

"This has to be special." Adam said as they worked on decorations. He fretted about the party. He wanted to make sure she knew exactly how much she meant to them.

Rocky looked down at his best friend from the top of the ladder he was standing on to decorate. "Don't worry, it will be. She's a friend to all of us, her party is going to be awesome."

Adam nodded and looked up as Kat and Carri entered the Youth Center with Carri carrying a cake in hand. "Hey guys." She greeted them as she walked over and extended her arms to show them the cake in question. "Check this out."

"You got the goodbye cake?" Adam asked although the answer was obvious.

"Naw. It's the cake I'm going to take to the Astrodome tonight after the sweep." She said grinning wickedly at them. Rocky rolled his eyes as he climbed down the ladder and Carri continued. "Of course it's for Tanya." She said as both Rocky and Tommy made their way over to check it out.

"That looks really good." Adam said pleased that it had come out well.

"Kat figured out what to say on it. And I designed it. But I neither decorated nor baked it. That was left up to the professionals." Carri said with a grin.

"I'm glad you didn't bake it. Because, you know, we want to say goodbye for now, not forever." Rocky joked and was immediately given an over the top roll of the eyes from Carri.

"Now that we've got the cake all we have to do is finish the decorations." Tommy pointed out, ignoring the interaction between the yellow and blue rangers. "You girls care to lend a hand?"

"Of course we'll help." Kat said giving Tommy a smile. She waited for Carri to put the cake down then she and her cousin went with Tommy to figure out what they could help out on.


Thirty minutes later they were finally finished decorating. Now all that was left was to get the guest of honor. Carri went over and grabbed the phone behind the counter, quickly dialing her home number. After three rings Tanya answered.

"Hello?"

"You need to get down to the Youth Center quickly." Carri said trying her best to sound panicked.

"Why what's wrong?" Tanya asked.

Carri said the first thing she could think of to get Tanya out of the house and down there. "It's Adam. He, well... you just need to get down here."

"I'm on my way." Tanya said hanging up the phone.

Carri hung up on her end and grinned at the others. "She's heading here now."

"Of course. She thinks I need her. She'd rush down here for me." Adam said with a smile.

Before Carri could reply Rocky spoke. "Guys it doesn't take that long to get here. We should hide."

"Rocky's right." Tommy agreed as all the party guests went and found a suitable spot to hide in.

There were what felt like hours of silence before finally the door to the Youth Center cracked open. "Hello?" Tanya called out through the eerily silent space.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled as they jumped out of hiding.

"You did all this? For me?" Tanya questioned, a bit taken back by it all. Adam came up to her and gave her a hug and a brief kiss hello.

"Of course." Kat said with a smile. "You didn't think we'd let you go without the proper send off do you?"

"Well... I... of course not." Tanya finally got out. She smiled at the others as tears misted in her eyes.

"I think we need to get this party started." Rocky said with a grin. "We should get the guest of honor to cut the cake." At the mention of food Carri rolled her eyes over dramatically and made a noise. Tanya laughed and Rocky ignored her as he made his way into the Youth Center to get the goodbye party going.


A few hours and one minor ranger interruption later the goodbye party was over and the rangers found themselves heading into the airport with Tanya. The former yellow ranger was walking in empty handed while Adam was wheeling her two suitcases toward the check in for her, along with the medium sized duffel bag over his arm. Between the three bags she was taking all her possessions with her to New York.

Tommy, Rocky, Kat and Carri had taken a different car from Adam and Tanya and were closing in behind them on their way in. Carri noticed Adam dragging both of Tanya's bags and couldn't help but make a crack. "Nice. You conned him in to carrying all your stuff."

"She didn't con me. I volunteered." Adam assured her. His girlfriend was about to leave and he'd do anything for her.

"Volunteered? You're setting high standards for the rest of us." Rocky joked. Not that he wouldn't help a girl with her bags, but he didn't think he'd volunteer to carry everything.

"Oh so you're saying if it was me you wouldn't volunteer to carry all my stuff?" Carri questioned with an eyebrow raised. Really she could care less if he did, she enjoyed being self sufficient. But she thought it would be cute to make him squirm.

Not to Carri's surprise Rocky stammered to come up with a sufficient response. Kat realized her cousin was teasing and she quickly interjected. "Please it would take a small army to carry your stuff."

Carri snorted. "I don't have that much stuff." She argued as the group stopped momentarily while Adam and Tanya headed toward the check in desk.

"I saw what you brought with you. Plus all the boxes of clothes your dad shipped to the house." Kat pointed out. She thought she had a decent sized wardrobe but her cousin had enough stuff to cover both of them for at least a year.

"I told him not to." Carri said matter-of-factly. Most of the stuff he shipped was geared toward winter weather and didn't think she was going to need any of it in California. "I don't need my New York weather clothes. I'm going to start fresh with a California wardrobe."

Tommy chuckled while Rocky snorted. Neither believed she'd abandon most of the clothes she wore in New York and buy, well, boxes worth of new clothes for California. Kat simply rolled her eyes. She knew that the others had yet to comprehend what Carri's family having money actually meant. She wasn't even sure they'd ever comprehend it. Jonathan and Becky Hillard lived their lives in high society. Carri didn't care much for the way high society talked and acted, she found most of them quite snobby which was one of the reasons she wanted to leave Manhattan and come back to Angel Grove. The one part of her parents wealth that she abused was the fact that her father had practically no restrictions when it came to buying her things. And the only things she really liked buying were clothes.

Adam and Tanya choose that moment to return, the two suitcases gone and the only reminder that one of them was leaving was the duffle bag on Adam's shoulder. "Should we head toward the gate?" Tanya's question was rhetorical as her flight would start boarding soon.

The others nodded in reply then followed her toward the security checkpoint. One by one the past and present rangers walked through the medical detector, with Adam stopping briefly to drop his bag on the conveyor belt to allow it to get scanned.

The chatter flowed freely amongst the group as they approached the gate. Before they even got a chance to get situated the boarding call was made for Tanya's flight. The former yellow ranger turned so she could face everyone. "Well guys, I guess this is goodbye."

She went to each of the rangers and hugged them, giving each of them their own goodbye message. Even Carri, who she didn't get to know as well as she wanted to. She was grateful to all of them for making her feel welcome, and especially grateful to Kat for being her best friend and opening up her home to her.

Saving the ranger she was most grateful for until last, she went up and gave Adam a huge hug. "I'm going to miss you." She said softly, trying hard not to cry.

Adam put his arms around her and squeezed her tightly. "I'm gonna miss you too." He said, swallowing hard in order to be the strong one. "But we'll call and write and visit. Everything will be great."

The duo separated enough for a goodbye kiss just as the airline attendant announced the final boarding call for Tanya's flight. "Goodbye everyone." Tanya said giving them a wave

The others called out their final goodbyes and watched as Tanya boarded the plane. The rangers stayed to support Adam as they watched the plane until it pulled out of the gate and headed for the runway. Once it was out of view the group slowly left.


Four of the five rangers plus Billy went to dinner after the plane left before going over to the DeSantos's residence for the final game of the Astros series against the Dodgers. Adam had declined to go out to dinner, and had declined to go watch the game. Rocky was worried about his best friend but the others assured him that he just needed time as his girlfriend had just taken off for the other side of the country.

He agreed that the others were right, and by the ninth inning of the baseball game Adam had been, for the moment, forgotten. The score was tied at zero and the rangers were at the edge of their seats to see who would win both the game and their side bet.

Carri crossed her arms and grinned. "Bases loaded. You guys are in trouble."

"Two outs. Worell versus Spires. Astros don't stand a chance." Rocky quickly defended his team.

"Rocky's right. The statistics" Billy stopped short as they watched Spires's bat make contact with the ball.

"Go, go, go." Carri chanted, pumping her fist as they watched the ball fly to the back of the stadium.

"It doesn't have the distance." Rocky said to himself as he held his breath.

"Keep going." Carri said as she slipped off the couch and crouched on the floor closer to the tv.

"Don't keep going." Rocky pleaded with the ball.

As it sailed over the fence Tommy groaned. "Oh no."

"Oh yes!" Carri countered as she sprung up and pumped her fists in the air. "Four to nothing. You guys are finished."

Billy sighed. "Well statistics are just probabilities. They're not always conclusive."

Carri snorted. "Please any stat that points against the Stros is off."

"Whatever." Rocky said grinning at her and rolling his eyes. "Your team just gets lucky."

"Lucky? It's skill my dear." Carri said smugly as she sat back down on the couch.

"Look he struck Ausmus out." Kat pointed out, ending the mini argument.

"I see. Now you decide to use the heater." Rocky whined. He glanced at the players coming up as the game went to commercial. "Well there's still hope. We've got Karros, Piazza and Gagne coming up."

"Against Billy Wagner? Not a chance." Carri said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Actually"

"I don't want to hear the statistics." Carri quickly cut Billy off before he could try and bring her down. "They don't matter we're gonna win."

A few moments later the game came back on, with Eric Karros up to bat. As Rocky started chanting Eric's name, Carri started her own chant of "K, K, K". Rocky tried to put his hand over her mouth but she slipped away from him, distancing herself from the Dodgers fans just in time to see Karros strike out.

"One down, two to go." Carri said sticking her tongue out.

"Mike won't let me down." Rocky assured her as he focused intently on the game. Two pitches later Piazza popped out to the second baseman. "How could you do this to me? You're my idol."

"If I was you I'd look up to someone talented. Maybe Jeff Bagwell. Or Craig Biggio." Carri said.

Rocky pretended not to hear her as he concentrated on the final batter. A few moments later, Gagne struck out, ending the game. Carri started jumping up and down and yelling in excitement before extending her hand out to collect her winnings from everyone.

Reluctantly those who had bet paid her. Carri grinned as she shoved the money into her pocket. "Teach you guys to be against the Astros."

"They just had an off week." Rocky assured her. "Any normal week you guys would've been destroyed."

"Rocky's right. After all statistically" Billy didn't get to finish as Carri cut him off yet again.

"The Astros rule and the Dodgers are at the bottom of the food chain." She finished for him.

Kat sighed. "Well next time I'm watching what team I bet on."

"Next time I'm just not betting." Tommy added. Baseball was fun to watch, but he just wasn't attached enough to any team to put money on them.

Rocky stood up and went to stand behind Carri. "You and I need to have a little talk on who to cheer for."

Carri raised an eyebrow. "Oh so you're converting?"

"No but I bet I can get you to." Rocky replied with a grin.

"Not in this lifetime." She said grinning back at him.

"Well why don't we go down to the beach and find out." Rocky suggested.

"Alright. You're on." Carri replied. Although she doubted just talking about baseball was all Rocky had in mind.

"Then let's go." Rocky said as he reached down to grab her hand. He glanced over at their friends as he led her to the door. "You guys can stay if you want. Just be out before I get back." He joked as he snatched his keys and led Carri out the front door.

Tommy watched them leave and shrugged. "Whatever." He said, surprised that they would just take off and leave the rest of them like that.

"I'm heading back to the Power Chamber. You guys want to come?" Billy asked. Seeing the looks the two rangers gave him he elaborated. "I'm working on some stuff for the zords. I'd like your input."

"Sounds good." Tommy said. He always wanted to be involved where things for the team were concerned.

"I'll join you." Kat added. She wasn't sure if she was really interested in the zord stuff, but she was always interested in spending time with Tommy.

"Good." Billy said as he teleported out, his two friends quickly teleporting behind him.


The next afternoon Kat and Carri found themselves in search of the male rangers after spending most of their day at the mall. While the guys tried to cheer Adam up the girls went shopping, with Carri well on her way to making good on her promise to change out her wardrobe.

By mid afternoon Carri had wore Kat out, and the two girls decided that the best place to look for the rest of the team would be the Youth Center. As they walked into their hangout, both girls pushed brand new sunglasses to the top of their heads and looked around. Rocky and Tommy were out on the mats, while Adam was sitting at a table by himself. Kat headed over to watch the boys while Carri decided to try and cheer Adam up.

"What's up?" She asked going to sit beside him at the table.

Adam looked up at her as though she had just snapped him out of a trance. "Oh, hey Carri."

"Cheer up. It's a new day." She said flashing him a smile.

Adam frowned. "There's not much to be cheerful about."

"What you didn't have fun with the guys today?" She asked.

"Yeah but"

"And today has been an awfully calm day." Carri cut in, not allowing him to make excuses.

"It has but"

Carri cut in one last time. "And all you little anti-Astros fans get to keep your ten bucks today."

That got a smile out of Adam. "I guess you're right."

"I know it's been kinda hard. You wanna talk about it?" Carri asked as she glanced over at him.

"No it's ok." Adam replied. Not that he didn't like his new teammate, but he hardly knew her and didn't really want to open up about how he was feeling to her.

"I'm a good listener." She said flashing him a smile. Although it took a certain kind of person to spill all to Carri. It was rare for her to sugarcoat something and not everyone could handle hearing her true opinion.

"Thanks for the offer." Adam said smiling back at her. "But I think I'm good. I talked to Rocky and Tommy earlier."

"Oh, ok." Carri said with a shrug. If he wasn't going to talk to her she couldn't force it. "I'm going to see how the boys are doing." She said as she walked away from the table and went to stand beside her cousin.

She arrived just in time to see Rocky take Tommy down. "Gotcha that time." He said triumphantly.

"We all get lucky." Tommy joked as Rocky helped him stand.

Carri clapped and cheered and both boys turned in her direction. Neither had seen Kat and Carri enter as they'd been so wrapped up in sparring. Rocky walked over to her and put his arms around her. "You must be my good luck charm."

"You'll need more than just a charm." Tommy called from the mats.

Rocky chuckled as he noticed the new sunglasses perched on top of Carri's head. He picked them up and put them on, grinning goofily at her. "What do you think?"

"You could pass in those." Carri said playfully rolling her eyes. "Maybe." She tossed in.

"I look great in everything I wear." Rocky complemented himself.

Carri snorted and snatched her sunglasses off his head. "I wouldn't go that far."

Rocky laughed. "Fine." He replied before changing the subject. "Where did you get those?"

"At the mall." She replied.

"You went to the mall today?" Rocky questioned.

She gave a little shrug. "Just for five hours."

"You seriously shopped at the mall for five hours?" Rocky couldn't stand going to the mall period, unless it was for a sports or electronics store. Even then he couldn't see spending one hour there, let alone five.

Tommy laughed at Rocky's reaction as he thought about his own girlfriend. Although he had a little bit of patience with her he usually sent her to the mall with other females as she could make a sport out of it. He sighed as he thought about how much he missed her since she's been in Florida. Pushing thoughts of Kim away he turned back toward Carri and Rocky's conversation.

"Yeah. It was a short trip but Kat was ready to go." Carri replied with a grin. She had yet to meet a guy who could keep up with her shopping habits and she didn't expect Rocky to. But it was always fun to see what kind of reactions she could get when she talked to guys about shopping.

Rocky made a face and glanced at Kat, who gave him a sympathetic smile. If he was going to date her cousin, he'd just have to get used to her insane shopping habits. Rocky simply shrugged in response. "Whatever."

"You ready to go again?" Tommy called out once he saw the conversation was done.

"Yeah." Rocky replied, giving Carri a quick kiss before jumping back onto the mats.

As the boys started sparring again Carri started blabbing to Kat. "Can you believe that sale I found? How awesome was that. I didn't think I could carry all those bags out. Of course that one outfit I bought almost cost as much as the three bags of clothes from the sale. Dad's probably gonna flip when he sees the statement this month. But he'll get over it. He always does. Besides Joshie's the one with the expensive video game habit." Carri paused then continued on. "And can you believe we ran into Bulk and Skull in the food court? Of all people."

Carri paused waiting for Kat to say something, anything, but her cousin was mute. "Are you even paying attention to me?" she asked as she crossed her arms and huffed. When Kat still didn't reply she turned to face her and quickly noticed her attention was definitely elsewhere. Following her gaze she landed on the red ranger. "Maybe someday." Carri whispered into her cousins ear, finally gaining her attention.

Startled Kat turned away from Tommy and glanced over at her cousin, who by that time had turned all her attention toward Rocky. Kat let out a sigh. She didn't realize how obvious she was being. She was really into Tommy and it was hard. She didn't want to betray her predecessor, but from the moment she laid her eyes on him she fantasized about being his girlfriend. For now she'd just have to smile and pretend she wasn't interested.

Both girls were silent except for the occasional cheer as they stood there and watched the boys spar. After ten minutes, Rocky was laying on his back and Tommy was the one triumphant. "Good try." Tommy said as he pulled Rocky up.

"Next time." Rocky replied with a smile as he walked over toward Carri. He went to put his arm around her but she put her hand out and pushed him back.

"You are ten times sweatier now than you were ten minutes ago. Go take a shower then we'll talk." Carri said firmly before grinning at him.

"Sorry." Rocky said grinning sheepishly as he glanced over at the clock. "I need to shower and go anyway. I have to be at work in a half hour."

"Ok. Talk to you later?" Carri questioned.

"Of course." Rocky replied, giving her a kiss before taking off to get ready.

Carri looked around, noticing that Kat and Tommy made their way over toward Adam's table. She walked over and stood in between the two ranger boys. "Let's go to the beach." She hadn't been able to swim or tan she'd been back in California and she was dying to go.

"Why?" Kat asked grinning at her. She knew her boyfriend had just taken off to go to work and she suspected that had something to do with it.

"Because the beaches here have two things New York could never offer." Carri replied.

"Rocky and?" Tommy said grinning at her.

Carri swatted his shoulder as she made a face. "Sun and surf. Let's go grab the surfboards and spend the rest of the afternoon out there."

"Sure. Sounds like fun." Kat was the first to jump on board.

Tommy shrugged. "Why not." He said before glancing over at the green ranger. "You in?"

"I don't know." Adam replied. He was still sulking and he wasn't sure if he was ready to get out and enjoy himself.

"Come on. A little bit of sun, playing on the beach, it's just want the doctor ordered." Carri attempted to coax him into going.

"Well," Adam paused as he thought about it, "ok I'm in." It might be fun for him to get out for a while and it may help him feel better.

"Great so let's go grab our stuff." Carri said as she headed for the door and gestured for the others to follow her.


Just before four thirty that afternoon, Tommy's jeep pulled up into a parking space near the public access to the beach. The group of four jumped out of the car, pulling all their beach belongings along with them.

Tommy led them all down to the beach and walked them around until he found what he claimed to be the perfect spot. They sat their things down as Carri checked the area out. "What's so special about right here?"

"Volleyball." Tommy replied, gesturing to the net. "You do play don't you?"

"Duh." Carri said rolling her eyes. Any girl who spent most of her life on the beach has played more than a few beach volleyball games. "You bring a ball?"

"We'll have to get one from the lifeguard." Tommy said as he gestured back toward the lifeguard station.

"You guys want to play?" Adam asked looking at the other three in the group.

"Of course." Kat replied.

"I'll grab a ball." Carri said as she jogged over toward the lifeguard tower. She walked up the tower ramp and peeked in to see the lifeguard on duty. "Excuse me."

The blond haired, blue eyed lifeguard looked up and smiled at her. "Can I help you?"

"I sure hope so." Carri replied with a grin as she checked him out. She couldn't help but notice his tan, sculpted body. Although she was in a relationship, it never hurt to look. "My friends and I wanted to play volleyball."

The lifeguard reached over and grabbed the ball, extending it out to her. As she reached out to grab it, he yanked it back. "Can I trust you with our sacred volleyball?" he joked.

"I'll guard it with my life." She assured him, catching the ball as he tossed it to her before turning to head back down to the beach. Upon exiting the tower she ran right into Rocky.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked, surprised to see his girlfriend standing before him.

"Me and the gang came for a little fun in the sun." She said with a smile as she pointed down toward the other rangers.

"Awesome." Rocky replied, grinning at the thought of watching his girlfriend run around the beach in a bikini. He glanced briefly at the volleyball in her hands. "You any good?"

She gave him a smug smile. "That's for me to know, and you to find out."

Rocky raised an eyebrow at her and grinned as the lifeguard she got the ball from approached them. "You going down to the beach?" he asked.

"Not until you introduce me to this lovely lady you're talking to." His coworker replied.

"This is my girlfriend Carri." Rocky said pointing at her. "And Carri, this is Cody. We've been working together for almost two years now."

"Nice meeting you." Carri said as she shook his hand.

"You too." Cody replied before turning toward Rocky. "I'm heading down that way. I'll be back."

"Later." Rocky said as he watched his friend jog off.

"Well," Carri started holding up the volleyball, "I was only supposed to be up here long enough to grab this so..."

"I'll let you go before Tommy has Alpha scanning for you." Rocky said with a grin as he gave her a kiss. "We'll talk later."

"Of course." She replied as she jogged back down to the beach and headed for her friends.

"What took you so long?" Tommy asked giving her a look as she approached.

"Rocky's up there. I was saying hello." She defended herself as she scrunched her face up.

"Rocky's here?" Kat questioned.

Carri nodded. "Didn't you guys see him walk in?"

"Nope." Adam replied.

"Hopeless." Carri teased as she sighed.

Tommy held his hands out as she tossed over the ball. "Since we're all so hopeless you want to play three on one?"

Carri made a face. "I mean I can handle it but..."

"I'll play with her." Adam said as though it was the worst thing he'd ever committed to.

"You won't be sorry." Carri promised as she and Adam took one side of the net while Kat and Tommy slipped to the other. Tommy tossed the ball into the air and the game began.


An hour later Carri found herself leaping in the air to spike the ball over the net, watching as Kat and Tommy dove and missed. "And that would be the winning point." She said as she went to high five Adam.

Tommy sat up in the sand making a pathetic, defeated face. Carri stuck out her lower lip. "Aw poor Tommy."

"Well if he could just play better." Adam joked, his spirits lifting from the funk he'd been in since Tanya left.

"Aw shut up." Tommy said as he and Kat stood.

Kat thought for a moment, trying to come up with a good excuse. "We, we... we let you win."

"Whatever." Carri said as Adam grinned at her and she giggled.

From behind them they heard clapping, and the foursome turned to see Rocky standing there. "Way to go." He called down to his best friend and girlfriend.

"You are just going to pretend that never happened." Tommy yelled back at him.

Rocky laughed. "Too late I saw it."

"Shouldn't you be working?" Tommy asked as Rocky simply shook his head and turned his eyes back toward the water.

Carri's eyes went toward the water as well before she glanced back at Kat. "Waves look good. You wanna go out?"

"Absolutely." Kat said. Both girls grabbed their boards and headed toward the water, with two pairs of eyes intently following them.

Adam and Tommy watched for a while as they took turns riding waves and trying to pull tricks. When they were both finally exhausted they headed back to find the boys clapping for them. "I didn't know you guys were that good." Tommy said. He'd never seen Kat surf before.

Kat blushed as she shrugged. "Well, you know, we both grew up near the water."

"Have you ever competed?" Adam asked out of curiosity.

"A loooong time ago." Carri replied.

Kat nodded before she elaborated. "In Australia. We were both pretty good at it. I quit competing around thirteen to concentrate on diving." She said glancing at her cousin. "And you quit the same year for baseball?"

"Year before." Carri replied. She loved surfing in competitions with her cousin when they were younger but it always interfered with playoffs. She wasn't as good at surfing, she just did it for fun so she decided to quit to make sure she could focus on baseball. Unfortunately her next year was her final year playing baseball before her parents moved her to New York.

"You played baseball or softball?" Adam questioned, eyebrow raised.

Carri glanced at him briefly. He wasn't the first guy to question semantics when someone said she played baseball. "Baseball. I pitched some. Little league. I had to quit after my first year in the junior division."

"Wow." Adam said as Carri shrugged.

"I think I'm going to tan for a while." She quickly changed subjects.

"Me too." Kat chimed in as she and Carri laid down on their beach blankets.

"You want to play some?" Tommy asked, gesturing toward the net.

"Sure." Adam replied. He glanced over at the girls, who had quickly shut their eyes. He was curious about the whole baseball thing but he let it slide as he went to the net to play volleyball with Tommy.


Carri laid on her back for twenty minutes before flipping over to her stomach and dozing off. Fifteen minutes after she fell asleep her communicator jolted her awake. "Crap." she said as she looked up and sighed. "And I thought we were going to have a day of peace."

Slowly she stood and walked with Kat to join Tommy and Adam in a secure location. "What are we waiting for?" Kat asked as Tommy hesitated to answer his communicator.

"Rocky." He replied.

As if on cue the blue ranger appeared. "Sorry. I had to get someone to cover for me."

"It's ok." Tommy said as he glanced at the others. "Go ahead Alpha."

"King Mondo has sent OctoMan and Cogs into the park." Alpha informed them.

"We're on our way." Tommy said before quickly thrusting his arms down by his side. "It's morphin time!"

"Zeo ranger one, pink!"

"Zeo ranger two, yellow!"

"Zeo ranger three, blue!"

"Zeo ranger four, green!"

"Zeo ranger five, red!"

And with that the set of new rangers and new friends were off to save the world.